Clipmarks | Busbyhead's clips

I Said Flour not Flower!

Sun, 09 Mar 2008 12:53:58 GMT

clipped by: Busbyhead

A customer eats a chrysanthemum flower at a restaurant in Wuhan, Hubei province March 2, 2008. More than 20 dishes made of various flowers including rose, lily, cherry blossom and orchids are served in the restaurant. REUTERS

Tags: flower, food

I Wouldn't Be Seen Dead In That...

Sat, 08 Mar 2008 15:27:48 GMT

clipped by: Busbyhead

Clip Source: blogs.reuters.com

Confidential memo to fashion show staff: Now, please keep an open mind about this, because times are tough and we still need to cut more costs. We spend a fortune putting on these shows, and why? Because we use live models!

But what if we used dead ones? I don’t mean like really old gross decayed ones, but you know, just very recently departed ones. They don’t complain about the outfits, they don’t talk back and the only cost is some dry ice!

Joey, you get the lawyers to research the laws on dead model usage. Kelli, you go to the hardware store and buy all the wheelbarrows they’ve got….

Tags: dead, fashion

Italian Senator Convicted For Misusing Ambulance

Sat, 08 Mar 2008 11:24:36 GMT

clipped by: Busbyhead

Clip Source: uk.reuters.com

An Italian senator who used an ambulance to beat Rome traffic was given a six-month suspended jail sentence on Thursday and fined 200 euros (153 pounds) by a court.

Gustavo Selva boasted publicly in June that he faked illness to get an ambulance to rush him to a television talk-show during U.S. President George W. Bush's visit, when tight security measures snarled traffic. He later praised the ambulance team for its "speed and efficiency".

The stunt outraged Italians and health officials warned Selva could have jeopardised the life of anyone who actually needed an ambulance.

Rome Judge Maria Giulia De Marco ruled that Selva was guilty of aggravated fraud and interruption of public service.

"The sentence imposes upon me a single and specific political duty ... to renounce my Senate candidacy," Selva said.

But he showed no remorse.

"My conscience is clear," he said.

Tags: italy, ambulance, law

101 Year-Old Marathon Runner

Sat, 08 Mar 2008 08:39:54 GMT

clipped by: Busbyhead

Clip Source: uk.reuters.com

Already Britain's oldest employee, 101-year-old Buster Martin now aims to become the world's oldest marathon runner by completing the London Marathon and celebrating with a pint of beer and a cigarette.

Sprightly and bearded, he completed a half marathon at the weekend in five hours 13 minutes. The former Army physical training instructor works three days a week for a London plumbing firm and says he has trained for the April 13th race in his spare time.

"I've said I'll attempt it," he told Reuters by telephone from his workplace at Pimlico Plumbers. "I haven't said I'll complete it. If I do make it, all the better. I hadn't thought of doing it before but someone asked me and the money goes to charity so why not?"

Martin, who had 17 children and returned to work at the age of 99 saying he was bored after two years of retirement, would beat the previous record for world's oldest marathon runner by eight years.

They say fags and booze are bad for you -- but I'm still here, aren't I?"

Tags: old, marathon, smoking, drinking

French Mayor Tells Locals Not to Die

Sat, 08 Mar 2008 08:29:27 GMT

clipped by: Busbyhead

Clip Source: uk.reuters.com

The mayor of a village in southwest France has threatened residents with severe punishment if they die, because there is no room left in the overcrowded cemetery to bury them.

In an ordinance posted in the council offices, Mayor Gerard Lalanne told the 260 residents of the village of Sarpourenx that "all persons not having a plot in the cemetery and wishing to be buried in Sarpourenx are forbidden from dying in the parish".

It added: "Offenders will be severely punished".

Lalanne, who celebrated his 70th birthday on Wednesday and is standing for election to a seventh term in this month's local elections, said he was sorry that there had not been a positive outcome to the dilemma.

"It may be a laughing matter for some, but not for me," he said.

Tags: france, french, death, die, law

Singing Dog. Sort Of.

Sat, 08 Mar 2008 08:26:48 GMT

clipped by: Busbyhead

Clip Source: blogs.reuters.com

Many readers ask me, “Bob, what is life like in places where they don’t have cable TV, DVD shops, satellite dishes, Blu-ray and stuff like that?”

Well, it’s not so good, I’m afraid.

I am basing this answer entirely on 74 seconds of video showing a dingo named Dinky, who “sings” when people play the piano in this bar in Australia’s outback. He is the actual entertainment. I believe this is all the scientific research we need to do.

Oh yes, and we’re told that Dinky’s favorite tune is Beethoven’s ”Für Elise.” Get it? FUR Elise? I think someone may be having fun with us.

Tags: dog, dogs, singing, sing, fur elise

Man Takes Car on Six-Day Test Drive

Sat, 08 Mar 2008 08:25:06 GMT

clipped by: Busbyhead

Clip Source: uk.reuters.com

An Australian who took a new car on a 1,988 mile six-day test drive from the city to the outback has been arrested

The 30-year-old convinced a car dealer in the southeastern city of Melbourne to lend him a A$40,000 (19,000 pound) Honda Accord sedan last Friday and drove the equivalent of London to Istanbul before he was arrested near the town of Tennant Creek, deep in the outback of the Northern Territory.

"He drove from Melbourne to Adelaide to Alice Springs," Tennant Creek police Constable James Gray-Spence told Reuters.

The test drive was the longest known to Australian police and topped a 500km theft on New Zealand's South Island in 2006.

"I think we've topped that with the 3,000 km mark," Gray-Spence said.

Melbourne car yard owner Ian McKenzie said the man would have had to have been in the car all day, every day to reach Tennant Creek.

"He seemed a legitimate gentleman. He stood at the desk right in front of a camera. He wasn't afraid of being photographed or videoed,"

Tags: cars, car, law, police

Talking CCTV Cameras Tell People Off

Tue, 04 Mar 2008 20:33:17 GMT

clipped by: Busbyhead

Clip Source: news.bbc.co.uk

A group of kids in Coventry have recorded their voices into a CCTV camera, so they can tell people off whenever they do something wrong.

The idea is that people are so embarrassed by hearing someone shout at them, they'll stop what they're doing.

The voices behind the cameras say things like "put your rubbish in the bin!" - and even say "thank you" when it's been done!

It's hoped the talking cameras will stop things like litter and violence on the streets.

Tags: cctv, children, crime, litter

World's Biggest Seed Library

Tue, 04 Mar 2008 20:16:52 GMT

clipped by: Busbyhead

Clip Source: innocentdrinks.typepad.com

This place opened up in Norway last week

The Svalbard Global Seed Vault will be home to millions of different seed samples from all over the world to make sure that we can still grow all these plants should a natural disaster, plant disease or asteroid ever wipe them out.

It's good to know someone is thinking ahead.

Tags: plants, earth, seeds

Minnie Mouse Fashion

Tue, 04 Mar 2008 17:31:05 GMT

clipped by: Busbyhead

Clip Source: blogs.reuters.com

Tags: fashion, minnie mouse, disney, design, cartoon, mouse

Clever Duracell Adverts

Tue, 04 Mar 2008 17:04:59 GMT

clipped by: Busbyhead

Clip Source: www.moillusions.com

Tags: duracell, battery, batteries, advertising, adverts

Government Mistakenly Declares Death of Citizens

Mon, 03 Mar 2008 18:12:48 GMT

clipped by: Busbyhead

Clip Source: www.msnbc.msn.com

For a dead woman, Laura Todd is awfully articulate.

“I don’t think people realize how difficult it is to be dead when you’re not,” said Todd, who is very much alive and kicking in Nashville, Tenn., even though the federal government has said otherwise for many years.

Todd’s struggle started eight years ago with a typo in government records. The government has reassured her numerous times that it has cleared up the confusion, but the problems keep coming.

Laura Todd is not alone. She is one of tens of thousands of living, breathing Americans whom the federal government has wrongly declared dead — by one measure, more than 35 a day.

The system is only as good as the data it receives. Sometimes, that isn’t very good.

Todd, for example, was killed when someone in Florida died and her Social Security number was accidentally typed in.

“It’s just a matter of being able to get me alive in the system.”

That isn’t as easy as showing up at the Social Security office and saying, “Hi.”

Tags: america, government, death, mistakes

Odd Fashions

Sat, 01 Mar 2008 11:34:42 GMT

clipped by: Busbyhead

Clip Source: blogs.reuters.com

You’re pretty certain I’m going to make fun of these models sporting “creations” such as this one with lycra covering a racing bicycle seat, right?

In fact, I’m much more intrigued by the seated woman, who is probably a reporter. What is she writing? I’m thinking it’s a plea, like “For the love of God, get me out of here!” followed by a vow to cover obits and church suppers if only her editor never sends her to something like this again.

Too bad, lady, this one will haunt your dreams like a slasher movie.

Tags: fashion

Tape Art

Sat, 01 Mar 2008 11:32:23 GMT

clipped by: Busbyhead

Clip Source: www.moillusions.com

all of the amazing portraits were made by sticking small pieces of tape one over another. The more layers author attached one over another, the darker was the shade he achieved.

Tags: tape, art, clever

Lady, The Elevator Door Won't Close!

Sat, 01 Mar 2008 11:23:22 GMT

clipped by: Busbyhead

Clip Source: blogs.reuters.com

Yankee Doodle came to town, just to get his ration,
Stuck a feather in a cap and tried to call it fashion

Once again, the fashion industry pokes us in the eye - perhaps literally. Maybe I’m wrong, but I don’t see a hat with a six-foot feather catching on. Here is my thinking:

- Who wants to ride everyplace with her head sticking out of the sunroof?

- Can’t wear it to the liquor store - too much bottle breakage

- Not much fun at a Tiki Torch party

- Three words: myopic killer falcons!

Tags: fashion, feather